They say that you can never be too rich or too thin. I am neither. I’m very sick. I feel like I’m being smothered. Like I’m drowning. Like I’m dying. I’m sick of:

Julius Malema
Floyd Shivambu
Tom Moyane
Bathabile Dlamini
Patricia de Lille and the Cape Town City soap opera
The gap between rich and poor
Violence against woman and children
The DA
The EFF
Black Land First
The ANC
The Guptas
Jacob Zuma
Farm murders
Water shortages
Racial hatred
Land Expropriation
SARS
SASSA
Polony

Anyone living in South Africa today should identify with at least 10 of the list of 20 above. And the list could be 50. It is a tough place to be now, this country of ours. We live in a breathtakingly beautiful land. Oceans, mountains, endless plains, wildlife, open skies and modern cities. We enjoy first world standards and hang onto ancient customs. Our people speak 11 different official languages and many more fanigalor (made up/slang) tongues. And we are more racially, culturally and politically divided than most in the world.

We have a history which cannot be ignored nor forgotten. The injustices of the past will linger way past my time on this earth. Much like World War 2 and the Holocaust is not forgotten, 73 years later. And that is right. We must never be allowed to forget the horror which human beings inflict upon each other. These events should be remembered for how wrong they were and as a sharp reminder that they should never be repeated. But at the moment it seems that we have completely lost the plot. Almost every conversation is a potential time bomb and ends up in conflict and strife. Take the 20 points I listed above. Every person, every party, every phenomena, every news item has been a source of contention, conflict, deep anger, hatred and in some cases violence.

I am an avid social media and application user. Facebook, Twitter, Whatsapp, Instagram, LinkedIn and the rest. I love the ability technology gives us to stay connected. To keep in touch with friends and loved ones across the world, to keep talking to each other. And with up to 18,4m mobile smart phone users in South Africa (source, Statista) it is pretty much an inclusive medium. And then there is radio and tv which is still very powerful in terms of reach. I am becoming increasingly concerned and unhappy about the divided lines which remain amongst our people. Whether the conversation starts with a question about which school to send one’s child to, or the times the tides will change or the land question, it ALWAYS ends up being about race. The slightest nuance, the tiniest innuendo and we jump on the race band wagon.

I listen to 702 and Cape Talk every day, I follow News24, IOL, Moneyweb, CNN, CNBC and the markets. I write on and read posts from Facebook and LinkedIn and I chat to as many people as I can. It is so interesting that when you are face to face, everyone’s appears to agree with each other. There is a Khumbaya spirit flat out. But walk away and oh my how things seem to change. Its almost as though anonymity gives one courage to slate others. “They, hulle, them, those peope” all become words of choice. Very little “we or us”

Come on South Africa. Man up, step up and be honest. Instead of hiding behind your #handle and sniping away at everyone and his/her dog start LISTENING more and trying to understand each others viewpoint before you resort to a fok jou, voetsek or jou mas se…We are bigger than that. We are more tolerant than that. We have proved that we can be a rainbow nation. Im just not sure that we are stong enough to resist the shit stirring politicians and wannabe public figures who only have their own interstes at heart. Stop believing everything you hear and read about. Start believing in yourself instead and start to form an opinion on what’s plainly either right or wrong.

While I read or write or listen I munch away at all sorts of tempting forbidden things. They make me fat. Help me get thin. Stop bitching, stop hating, stand together and do what’s right for our country and our people. There are too few idiots running our lives. Stop them. Now. Please.

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Lawrence Twigg is a former retail and banking executive turned consultant and part-time cynical blogger.